"As for Peterson, society is changing fast, and obviously for the better, on many things, including disciplining children. I'm 55 and have friends about a generation older who say corporal punishment in school was routine. That's not long ago.

"Let's also not forget that Peterson likely is descended from slaves who suffered savage disciplinary beatings generation after generation after generation. It excuses nothing but also can't be ignored. This is learned behavior."

The Vikings announced this week that they would not exercise the 2017 option on Peterson's contract, making him a free agent.

The former NFL MVP is coming off of knee surgery and will be 32 next season. In addition to those physical issues, teams interested in signing him would have to wrestle with the potential public relations fallout of signing a player who admitted to beating his 4-year-old son with a switch and continues to say that he didn't abuse his son.

Dougherty hasn't issued any public statement about the passage, but his editor's added a note to the top of his column saying that it had been removed and "was poorly reasoned and insensitive."

Peterson was placed on the commissioner's exempt list in 2014 after he was indicted. He accepted a plea deal in November, pleading no contest to reduced misdemeanor charges and was ordered to pay a $4,000 fine and serve 80 hours of community service. He was reinstated by the NFL in 2015.